Is WildStar the next great MMO?

When several members of Blizzard left the company to form Carbine Studios in 2005, it should have raised eyebrows. The staff was part of the core development team that made the king of mass multiplayer online games. It looked as though something big was in the works, and in 2011, the developer announced WildStar.

It’s a sci-fi MMO that shows off a similar art style to Blizzard’s flagship title. That is to say it’s cartoonish but attractive with distinct cast of colorful characters. But the similarities are more than skin deep; the game boasts the same level of polish and addictive gameplay that is a hallmark of the Irvine-based company. The quality is there but WildStar tries to differentiate itself in other areas.

“We wanted WildStar to appeal to every demographic,” said Stephan Frost, design producer. “We made dungeons that are frenetic. The telegraphs (system) add to combat.”

Players can customize the user interface in several ways.

A FULLY LOADED MMO WITH ALL THE CREATURE COMFORTS: When it’s released next year, Carbine Studios’ MMO is shaping up to be one of the better ones to launch in a while. A major part of that is because the developer is focusing on “quality of life things,” Frost said. These are small features that don’t look like much, but when everything is added up, it makes a huge difference to the player experience. One of those is the ability to vacuum up loot with a simple key press. There’s also a user interface that’s easy to use and customizable. More advanced players will appreciate the ability to respec their characters quickly for raids or competitive multiplayer.

For novices, WildStar eases players into the experience as they choose between two factions — the Exiles and the Dominion. The former is akin to Star Wars’ Rebel Alliance and latter is similar to the Galactic Empire. Both sides are fighting over a planet called Nexus. The Exiles see it as a new home while the Dominion views the place as part of its territory. The planet itself holds technology of a superior race called the Eldan who have mysteriously vanished.

There’s clearly a good and bad side as players can choose the likable Exiles or the cultlike Dominion. Each faction has its own races with the Exiles headed up by humans, Aurin, Grank and Mordesh while the Dominion features the Cassians (humans), Drakens, Chua and Mechari. They’re each distinct with some races having access to certain Classes. For example, the Chua can be engineers, espers and spellslingers, but the Granok can pick from the warrior, engineer and medic. In addition, there’s a Path that a character has to choose. This affects a player’s quest line, secondary missions and leveling. The four paths are soldier, settler, scientist and explorer.

There’s plenty of options to choose from no matter which faction you pick.

HOW FACTIONS AND PATHS AFFECT EXPERIENCE: The choice of faction leads players into a short tutorial, where they get a hang of WildStar’s systems and are introduced to the world. They’ll discover that quests are normal fare for MMOs. It’s most killing creatures and collecting items. The path quests offer some variety. For example, scientists have to analyze crystals or the biology of Nexus creatures while settlers gather resources to turn in for some buffs.

What’s more interesting is the combat itself, which requires some skill. Attacks are shown as telegraphs — color-coded zones that show the area of the attack. During a fight, players can see an enemy’s telegraph and they can see theirs. They’ll have to move around so that the foe is in their blast radius or sword swing, and consequently, they’ll have to dodge out of the way of an enemy attack by double-tapping a directional key.

That means during large-scale player versus player matches (They can reach up to 40 vs. 40.) skill plays an important role. A higher-level guy can’t rely on a more powerful move set against a lower-level opponent. A skilled player can make him miss and pull off a deadly upset.

When it comes to different play styles, WildStar tries to accommodate as many players as possible with the option of building different loadouts. If someone is a big PvP competitor, they can set up a build that focuses on that skill set. If they’re geared more toward PvE, players can adjust a loadout to accommodate that role. Carbine Studios tries to make it as convenient as possible with switchouts that take a few clicks.

There’s immediate conflict when landing on Nexus.

HOME IS WHERE THE BUFFS ARE: Lastly, housing will play a large role in the game. It will be a player’s personal space that they can decorate as they see fit. They can build platforming puzzles or turn their domicile into a tavern for friends to meet up in. But in addition to that, home has a gameplay element as well. It’s where players can activate a random buff of the day. It’s also structured in a way that players can add different plots around it to generate resources to for their craft. For example, if they want to be a chef, they’d plug in a farm on the premises and they can harvest crops to turn into food. The same goes for ore or grapes if they want to make items or wine, respectively.

Keep in mind though, these additions have to be purchased using gold or renown (WildStar’s social currency that’s attained by grouping). Housing add-ons, or plugs as the developers call them, can be rewards on quests or items picked up from enemies. Some plugs even carry challenges, instances and other secrets. Carbine Studios is even planning on introducing a neighbor system, where you can allow friends access to resources or even your redecorate your home. It’s almost a whole other game in and of itself. The team envisions it as a way to keep players connected to the world daily and reward them even if they’re jumping in for 10 minutes.

It’s a smart touch, one of many that makes WildStar an intriguing MMO for 2014.

Gieson Cacho

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It doesn’t sound like the next big MMO. It sounds more like the next WoW clone. Respecs. Warzone-type PvP. Etc.

Mathieu

For having followed Wildstar for months now, and having played wow, aion, GW2, LOL, Lineage, SWTOR, I know that Wildstar will be the next biggest mmorpg.

Eckspo

OMG it has some of the same stuff as WoW, must be a clone….Why would they throw away stuff that people want in a mmo? By your reasoning every 1st person shooter must be a doom clone.

giesoncacho

The most intriguing part is the housing and combat.

BLazed

I got to stress test the game. Just gotta say it is by far the best MMO i have played in a long time. It gave me that Burning Crusade excited feeling all over again.

Steven Carmichael

i think its funny how everyone calls new MMOs WoW clones when WoW is a Everquest clone.

Jared Ferguson

I got on the beta and did not like it at all….i will give it another try later but its so meh for me right now.

Spyh

I played the beta this weekend. Next great MMO? I predict it will be just one more amongst many that ends with a small, niche playerbase. To me, the game felt like I was playing an expansion for SWOTR. I couldn’t take it after awhile and logged off.

klepp0906

sounds like more everything to everyone. i thought these were same devs who said blizzrad destroyed the genre? So why are they making a game just like it? im sure it will do well, after all – we have all heard of the bell curve have we not?

klepp0906

play anything pre wow? lol. Sorry but your opinion means nil if you havent played a real mmorpg yet. Oh and fwiw ffxiv is the “next” biggest mmorpg and i assume you are using concurrent subs as your basis for “biggest” so by that definintion, i highly doubt wildstar will come close to that either.

to be fair – anyone with half a brain knows sub numbers have little to do w/ how good a game is nor its success. Take everquest as a prime example. Game still has players 20+ expansions later, some have played since launch and have yet to leave. The most subs it ever had was like 250k and the game squats on 99% of todays games.

Anyhow. adios.

klepp0906

wow is NOTHING like everquest…. cant really add to that because im stupefied atm lol

klepp0906

OMG it has some of the same stuff as WoW, must be a clone….Why would they throw away stuff that kids want in a mmo? By your reasoning every 1st person shooter must be a doom clone.